Patients with chronic sinusitis have a continuous presentation of symptoms (nasal stuffiness, tenderness, pain, and nasal discharge, among others); patients with recurrent acute sinusitis experience episodic flare-ups of their symptoms. Over time, sinusitis symptoms can become severe enough to interfere with normal daily activities.

Symptoms of infection often include:

nasal stuffiness, the most common symptom

thick, often discolored, mucus draining down the throat or from the front of the nose, sometimes causing an unpleasant or foul odor

facial pain, toothache and headache that may result from trapped infection and uneven air pressure in the sinus cavities